Zynga Hit With Preemptive Suit Over ‘Dungeonville’ Name

By Megan Leonhardt

Law360, New York (November 21, 2011, 2:37 PM ET) -- Zynga Inc., the developer of social networking games "FarmVille" and "CityVille," was struck on Friday with a preemptive lawsuit by a computer game maker trying to stake its claim to the name “Dungeonville.”

Night Owl Games, creator of the game “Dungeon Overlord,” filed suit in Texas federal court seeking declaratory judgment that its proposed trademark for "Dungeonville” does not infringe Zynga’s popular “FarmVille” and other "Ville" game trademarks.

“Zynga claims that all uses and trademarks ending in ‘Ville’ infringe on Zynga’s [trade]marks,” the complaint said....